# Cigarbid.com fail...



## 2152ATC (Mar 24, 2013)

Not a big spender, and I'm not much of a forum poster. Thought I might save a few people the trouble of dealing with a company that obviously doesn't value your business. Hell....they have GREAT prices and 99% of the time I'm sure everything goes right. It's the 1% of the time things are messed up that show you who is who...

Won an auction
Had incorrect CC information/shipping address as I had moved. Order was placed on hold/not shipped as card would not authorize (wrong address)
Changed the address AND the card.
Order ships
Invoice says it's shipped to the correct address, but it goes to the old one instead.
I figure no big deal, and call them. In a very "I don't give a F#$ about you sir attitude, I'm told I won't be getting my package unless I want to pay to have it reshipped
My account gets cancelled after I file a chargeback with AMEX

That is pretty much it, cut and dry. If you order from them hopefully you will have the same experiences I did when I placed my first few orders. If you search around I'm not the only one that has run into this. 

Seems silly to lose a customer (actually I was told I was banned lol) over a 5$ shipping charge. But if my business is that unimportant to you, then so be it.

Since CI owns them, I shant be spending any cash with them either.

I've tried HOLTS before, no issues. Who else do I go to now to get some reasonably priced smokes?


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## Packerjh (Nov 29, 2009)

Interesting...I wonder if c-bid will weigh in on this??


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## 2152ATC (Mar 24, 2013)

Would be great if they did, but they obviously don't care. I was "banned" as I took the issue up with my CC company/package not received. Even have the invoice w/tracking number says it's going to one address, but it went to the other one. Glad I took a screenshot of that, as CB has locked my account lol.

Any recommendations on where I should look online for some smokes (other than holts?)


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## jurgenph (Jun 29, 2011)

@[email protected] interested to hear the other version of the story 

J.


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## Packerjh (Nov 29, 2009)

jurgenph said:


> @[email protected] interested to hear the other version of the story
> 
> J.


LOL...I already sent her a PM


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## 2152ATC (Mar 24, 2013)

Not letting me attach an image  Can someone help? (It's the invoice and tracking which plainly shows the ship to/bill to and the tracking number which delivers the box to the wrong address..


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## felker14 (Jun 20, 2013)

I haven't had problems with them. Threads like this make me think twice about continuing to do business with them.


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## StogieJim (Sep 18, 2010)

There's been a LOT of cbid bashing as of late. Did they change ownership? Haven't seen this many "issues" with them ever. Every time I've had a concern, it was promptly addressed. 

Interested in seeing what Trish has to say.

Jim


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## Cardinal (Jun 14, 2013)

I've had one minor problem over the course of about 6-8 orders, and I took it in stride.

You get what you pay for.


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## wrx04 (Apr 1, 2012)

My order from CI arrived today. The packaging was HORRIBLE.......a 20 pack bag of bovedas (which weighs a ton), a box of oliva melanios, and three loose fivers (tat victorias, tat cojonu, 5 vegas gold) were all thrown in a box with one single air pillow. No bubble wrap, foam peanuts, etc....This is what happened.....








I sent an email to customer service today, and no response yet. Hopefully they make it right. I was suprised at this......all my previous orders were packaged with a ton of protection from this type of damage.

OP, hope yours gets worked out. Very frustrating.


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## madbricky (Mar 29, 2013)

Im going to say what you dont want to hear. You catch more flys with honey than vinegar. Going from one CS rep to a chargeback is just bitter herbs and impatience.
I have had issues before and not once in many orders did I not only get problems resolved, I asked for and got expedited shipping. 
So on your 5th post to Puff, welcome and enjoy the fellowship and resources that are here. This is not a great place to dump your issues and split however. 

Famous Auctioneer is decent, but mostly like Thompsons on boxes.
Better luck over there, as they too have their foibles.


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## madbricky (Mar 29, 2013)

wrx04 said:


> My order from CI arrived today. The packaging was HORRIBLE.......a 20 pack bag of bovedas (which weighs a ton), a box of oliva melanios, and three loose fivers (tat victorias, tat cojonu, 5 vegas gold) were all thrown in a box with one single air pillow. No bubble wrap, foam peanuts, etc....This is what happened.....
> View attachment 45850
> 
> 
> ...


Its no secret they are going through a learning curve with many new warehouse people.
Call them! Not once did I ever email as to me it lacks the ability to transmit my angst and frustration that in polite communication reachs a human being on the other end. They send you a replacement and a pickup from UPS. sh*t happens and we get it taken care of, once again its not an internet mayday unless they don't replacement or satisfy you.


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## wrx04 (Apr 1, 2012)

madbricky said:


> Its no secret they are going through a learning curve with many new warehouse people.
> Call them! Not once did I ever email as to me it lacks the ability to transmit my angst and frustration that in polite communication reachs a human being on the other end. They send you a replacement and a pickup from UPS. sh*t happens and we get it taken care of, once again its not an internet mayday unless they don't replacement or satisfy you.


Yeah, its not a big deal. Stuff happens. Im not the least bit concerned, as im sure they will make it right. I was just shocked how they packaged the shipment.....im not knocking CI at all. All my previous stuff from them has been packaged VERY well. The way this one was shipped almost guaranteed those sticks would be decimated....im lucky the other loose sticks didnt get destroyed.


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## cigarmax (Feb 23, 2011)

Try Cigar Place, Famous, or Atlantic. Properly packed and never a problem.


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## ROCarson (Apr 13, 2013)

madbricky said:


> Im going to say what you dont want to hear. You catch more flys with honey than vinegar. Going from one CS rep to a chargeback is just bitter herbs and impatience.


I would agree with you for the most part. Generally speaking if I get a bad CSR I'll wait a bit then call back during a different shift and go with the three times and I'm done rule. However, it would really depend on how nasty my experience with CSR was that first time if I was going to make a second or third attempt.

I sort of get the feeling there is more to this story than what is presented here.


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## FireRunner (Jul 19, 2012)

Buying online has its risks, and this is one of them. While I still buy 95% of my stock locally, I'll purchase a few cigars online. Last year I purchased a box of Camacho from Famous and they came in more dried than tinder. Read the below thread. My response is third post.

http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...camacho-select-churchill-cigars-any-good.html

I'm lucky enough where my local shops take care of me and give me major discounts. I rarely shop online now. The only time I will is if I see a rare box that's not normally on stock at my local shops.

To the OP: Hope you get this resolved. Always tough to get crap cigars in the mail.


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## Scott W. (Jul 10, 2008)

Never had any issues with CID or ci. Pm Trisha and give her a crack at resolving before bashing their ways.
It's a good idea.


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## Tobias Lutz (Feb 18, 2013)

As others have mentioned, we have seen an uptick in threads like this lately. Personally, I'm not really sure if there has actually been a change in the type of service being delivered by these companies, of if people are just more likely to come out the woodwork when someone takes the lead. Either way, I think we walk a fine line when these become common place because while Puff is a community of cigar smokers, and conversation regarding the positives and negatives of using certain vendors is to be expected, I don't believe this forum should be used as a consumer platform for complaints that you might normally take to the Better Business Bureau. We're fortunate to have reps from certain companies join us in threads, and they are a great addition to Puff, but I don't think they should constantly be having to put out fires on our site because people are constantly griping about their businesses. I honestly believe that too much of this makes our community come across as something that it genuinely is not. Just my two cents on the topic :anim_soapbox:

*OP- I am actually sorry that you were unable to get the items you ordered, best of luck with whichever vendor you choose to use next time.*


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## [OT] Loki (May 24, 2006)

Tibias, 
If they chose to come on here and state who they work for they have to expect to be a point of contact for when things go wrong and when things go right. I used to rep for a cigar line but never announced it on here because I didn't want to be put in the position to have to deal with problems and the like. If there is a problem we should know about it so we can decide who to spend money with


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## 2152ATC (Mar 24, 2013)

Listen..I didn't just fly off the handle and start posting crap on forums here. I called, twice. Spoke with a supervisor, and also used the customer service link/message exchange on their website. All avenues led to the same address.....you are wrong and we are right.

Lots of people say I should have just taken the $5 or $7 shipping loss and moved on. I say BS. I didn't have the wrong address as it's clearly shown on the CB invoice. CB decided that the shipping charge outweighed making a customer happy. It's not about what it cost, it's about the principle of the thing. I'm sure plenty of people would have just said no big deal and paid to have their mistake corrected. 

I'm not one of those people 

I don't plan on coming here and posting 3 times and leaving....but I don't have a ton of time to spend reading threads on forums and replying to this and that. Hopefully I can make a positive contribution to this forum. I know I've learned a lot about different smokes by searching here alone.


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## Tobias Lutz (Feb 18, 2013)

[OT] Loki said:


> Tibias,
> If they chose to come on here and state who they work for they have to expect to be a point of contact for when things go wrong and when things go right. I used to rep for a cigar line but never announced it on here because I didn't want to be put in the position to have to deal with problems and the like. If there is a problem we should know about it so we can decide who to spend money with


I hear where you're coming from, and I realize it goes with the territory. I think anytime a complaint thread is posted here they should have the chance to chime in (and I'm looking forward to Trish hopefully posted in this one), but we seem to have a disproportionate number of negative seller threads lately and maybe I'm getting hung up on semantics, but I see a difference between some negative comments in a thread asking "Do you have any experience with companyxyz?" and threads titled "companyxyz has screwed somebody else". I'm not trying to discourage people talking about the pros and cons of sellers, I just think the tone and context of how negative comments are presented can really make a difference in perception. Both amongst members, and to those who lurk.


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## Scott W. (Jul 10, 2008)

2152ATC said:


> Listen..I didn't just fly off the handle and start posting crap on forums here. I called, twice. Spoke with a supervisor, and also used the customer service link/message exchange on their website. All avenues led to the same address.....you are wrong and we are right.
> 
> Lots of people say I should have just taken the $5 or $7 shipping loss and moved on. I say BS. I didn't have the wrong address as it's clearly shown on the CB invoice. CB decided that the shipping charge outweighed making a customer happy. It's not about what it cost, it's about the principle of the thing. I'm sure plenty of people would have just said no big deal and paid to have their mistake corrected.
> 
> ...


You've posted 6 times in 6 months and two were bitching threads, do you this is a positive contribution.? You said what you had to say, others don't feel the same way about cbid. If you don't have the time to read and reply to threads on the forum, how do you feel you will be able to accomplish becoming a positive contributor? Just curious.


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## Gdaddy (Sep 20, 2012)

The lesson to be learned is to make darn sure your credit card and address information is correct BEFORE you click the 'BUY' button.


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## 2152ATC (Mar 24, 2013)

Scott W. said:


> You've posted 6 times in 6 months and two were bitching threads, do you this is a positive contribution.? You said what you had to say, others don't feel the same way about cbid. If you don't have the time to read and reply to threads on the forum, how do you feel you will be able to accomplish becoming a positive contributor? Just curious.


Since you want to state facts, my first post was a picture of an ashtray I fabricated out of scrap parts I had in the garage. THAT was 6 months ago. My second was this thread, the third a follow up to the ashtray thread, and subsequent posts were here.

I said I HOPE to, not that I had/ have.8)



Gdaddy said:


> The lesson to be learned is to make darn sure your credit card and address information is correct BEFORE you click the 'BUY' button.


Ever move out of state? Ever move a 5 bedroom house with a family of 5 out of state? Updating a single address via a website I didn't frequent often wasn't and won't ever be high my priority list.

When the company emails you are says "Hey...your CC won't go through" you contact them back with the correct information and shipping address. And then they ship it to the wrong address.... after having the correct address and having that address plainly shown on the "SHIP TO" portion of the invoice. I guess that is somehow still my fault.

And then CS tells you "It's not our problem". Well, actually, it is now. This thread/post was all about the lack of CS that CB showed me through repeated attempts to get this issue resolved. The 2 CSR's and supervisor couldn't have been any more clear on the phone with "It's not our fault we shipped it to the wrong address", and "sorry about your luck, would you like to pay for return/re-shipping?". No actually, I wouldn't. I'm not an unreasonable person, and I do not think that being treated fairly is unreasonable to ask. $5 in shipping was obviously too much trouble for them to be bothered with. Now they get to go through the trouble of a chargeback and attempting to claim the package from the address it was dropped off at. I betcha that will cost them a few more than 5$.....but I digress.

I've already explained 3 times what has happened. I'm done with that now.

BTW....the order that was placed and charged only 2 days after this screw-up just arrived safely at my front door. Packaging was fine and contents are all there. No complaints on that order, or on the few others I placed that were 100%. When the problems start, that is when you find out who you are really dealing with.


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## Scott W. (Jul 10, 2008)

Even worse. And I asked how you intend on doing that? You post a pic, leave for 6 months, then post this thread. Like I said, I'm curious. We love contributors here, not people who use the board to air out gripes with vendors. Not trying to hurt your feelings at all.


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## 2152ATC (Mar 24, 2013)

Scott W. said:


> Even worse. And I asked how you intend on doing that? You post a pic, leave for 6 months, then post this thread. Like I said, I'm curious. We love contributors here, not people who use the board to air out gripes with vendors. Not trying to hurt your feelings at all.


You couldn't hurt my feelings with a stick of dynamite.

I was only correcting you, since you stated my first 2 posts were negative....which is incorrect. As I have already said, I HOPE to contribute positively to the forum. Future tense. Of course, if this thread resolves some issue at CB and the customer service gets better then one could argue that it in itself is a positive contribution.

I'm stretching a little bit there I know


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## Scott W. (Jul 10, 2008)

Well I suppose that would be positive. I hope the situation gets resolved.


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## JustinThyme (Jun 17, 2013)

Subscribed. I too would like to hear what Trish has to say.

Even though you are a fairly new I feel your pain brother. I got two damaged orders in a row and they were both big ticket orders so I got labeled for being suspicious by their CS rep and subsequently got my account terminated because a resolution could not be reached and is still not resolved. I did as Tobias suggested and filed with the BBB and IC3.GOV


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## Samadhi (Nov 29, 2010)

I received damaged sticks in the past... I just don't do business with that retailer any longer.

/Subscribing to see what happens.


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## HIM (Sep 12, 2012)

Holy sh!t 21 users/ 15 members viewing this thread right now. Never seen so many viewers on one thread at once in my tenure here.


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## purepoker (Sep 15, 2011)

I'm curious what you ordered, if you don't mind sharing?


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## Cardinal (Jun 14, 2013)

2152ATC said:


> Ever move out of state? Ever move a 5 bedroom house with a family of 5 out of state? Updating a single address via a website I didn't frequent often wasn't and won't ever be high my priority list.
> 
> When the company emails you are says "Hey...your CC won't go through" you contact them back with the correct information and shipping address. And then they ship it to the wrong address.... after having the correct address and having that address plainly shown on the "SHIP TO" portion of the invoice. I guess that is somehow still my fault.
> 
> And then CS tells you "It's not our problem". Well, actually, it is now..


I've moved state-to-state three times in the last six years, and when I order online after each move I verify my address.

The root cause of this issue was you failed to update your shipping address, then your note to cbid apparently didn't filter through their system in time to catch your mistake before the package departed. I'm sure the credit card address verification is a different piece from your profile "ship to" address.

Sorry, but without your initial mistake this wouldn't have happened. Simple and understandable screwup on your part, but demanding someone else pay up is unreasonable IMO.


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## earcutter (Aug 25, 2013)

Cardinal said:


> I've moved state-to-state three times in the last six years, and when I order online after each move I verify my address.
> 
> The root cause of this issue was you failed to update your shipping address, then your note to cbid apparently didn't filter through their system in time to catch your mistake before the package departed. I'm sure the credit card address verification is a different piece from your profile "ship to" address.
> 
> Sorry, but without your initial mistake this wouldn't have happened. Simple and understandable screwup on your part, but demanding someone else pay up is unreasonable IMO.


Dude - he's said three times that they didn't ship until after he changed the address! And then they shipped to his old address anyway.


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## madmarvcr (Jun 1, 2013)

I have no complaints with c-bid. I have gotten about 20 shipments from them.


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## 2152ATC (Mar 24, 2013)

Cardinal said:


> I've moved state-to-state three times in the last six years, and when I order online after each move I verify my address.
> 
> The root cause of this issue was you failed to update your shipping address, then your note to cbid apparently didn't filter through their system in time to catch your mistake before the package departed. I'm sure the credit card address verification is a different piece from your profile "ship to" address.
> 
> Sorry, but without your initial mistake this wouldn't have happened. Simple and understandable screwup on your part, but demanding someone else pay up is unreasonable IMO.


Read the post. Then look at the picture I posted of the invoice. Then tell me how after the order was on hold, and I updated the card and shipping address, its my problem that it went to the wrong place.


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## ROCarson (Apr 13, 2013)

Cardinal said:


> Sorry, but without your initial mistake this wouldn't have happened. Simple and understandable screwup on your part, but demanding someone else pay up is unreasonable IMO.


I agree there is some fault on the OP's part, but on that same note is CI taking the hardline stance over a five dollar charge worth the online reputation damage this thread will cause? (i.e this thread is going to stick around for a very long time and given the amount of authority Puff.com has on cigar related keywords it is very likely that this thread will show up in a Google search under the right circumstances).

The part that confuses me is that if the order was placed on hold, then shipped after the OP corrected the address and credit card information. That indicates to me that the shipping label was generated before the order was put on hold. So that's partly CI's fault and a logistical issue that should be looked into. You don't generate shipping information for an order that's placed on hold.

*disclaimer* Of course this is all guesstimating over secondhand information, blah blah blah standard disclaimer for my views and conclusions based on incomplete information etc etc ad nauseam


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## ROCarson (Apr 13, 2013)

2152ATC said:


> Read the post. Then look at the picture I posted of the invoice. Then tell me how after the order was on hold, and I updated the card and shipping address, its my problem that it went to the wrong place.


The part where you do bear some responsibility is in that the original order was placed with the incorrect shipping information. If it hadn't been placed on hold due to the credit card issue it would have been sent to the wrong address without you getting a chance to correct the issue.

*edit* That said, I think CI holds a lot of responsibility for this issue and should have (and still should) make it right.


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## Wicked_Rhube (Jul 29, 2012)

I love cbid. Just sayin......


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## Scott W. (Jul 10, 2008)

Guys, I might suggest (and its only a suggestion) to just let the situation pan out and let the OP update us. There is no knowledge being passed along at this point. Lets talk about and smoke some cigars.


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## earcutter (Aug 25, 2013)

Scott W. said:


> Guys, I might suggest (and its only a suggestion) to just let the situation pan out and let the OP update us. There is no knowledge being passed along at this point. Lets talk about and smoke some cigars.


LOL - I thought it had already panned out. I mean he got banned right? All this is just... well I don't know. One guy telling other folk what happened to him I guess .


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## Cardinal (Jun 14, 2013)

earcutter said:


> Dude - he's said three times that they didn't ship until after he changed the address! And then they shipped to his old address anyway.


My point is there's a bill-to address (used for CC verification), and a ship-to address. Clearly cbid still had his ship-to as the old address. They didn't send it to the wrong place on purpose. If everything was kosher before the bid was won we wouldn't have this post. OP started the snowball, now wants vendor to pay for his initial mistake.

Either way, the less people on cbid the happier I will be. Don't know why I'm even posting here :ask: GL to the OP.


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## Scott W. (Jul 10, 2008)

earcutter said:


> LOL - I thought it had already panned out. I mean he got banned right? All this is just... well I don't know. One guy telling other folk what happened to him I guess .


Whether or not cbid does anything regardless of the Ops status with them.


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## purepoker (Sep 15, 2011)

THIS IS JUST A JOKE...

Consider yourself lucky, I would have paid to ship those turds back!


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## Emperor Zurg (May 6, 2013)

Dude joins the site and within 2 posts he's railing against a vendor that all of us know and most of us love...
I don't know... I don't like this...
Just sayin'


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## earcutter (Aug 25, 2013)

Cardinal said:


> My point is there's a bill-to address (used for CC verification), and a ship-to address. Clearly cbid still had his ship-to as the old address. They didn't send it to the wrong place on purpose. If everything was kosher before the bid was won we wouldn't have this post. OP started the snowball, now wants vendor to pay for his initial mistake.
> 
> Either way, the less people on cbid the happier I will be. Don't know why I'm even posting here :ask: GL to the OP.


No I hear what you are saying, but lets just say you were shipping something to me, and when you went to the post office they stated that that address didn't exist. You go back to your office and email me and I tell you sorry man... my bad, that was an address I use when I am out trolling at bars lol, here's the real one... But then you go ahead and mail it again to the one I just told you didn't exist anyway lol... well, that's not exactly cool. Especially if you have documentation stating as much.

Of course this is the net... and perfect information is near impossible to come by, so yeah, it's hard to get too excited. But if you take the poster at face value, I would have to side with the poster in this case.

BTW - I am not sure why I am posting here either LOL!!


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## jp1979 (Sep 12, 2013)

I order from CID and Atlantic. Never had an issue yet. Knock on wood.


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## FireRunner (Jul 19, 2012)

Okay. More than a few posts here need a response. But, it's way too many to quote so I'll leave my statements in the points below.

1. A user here does not have a right to judge another user based on when they joined the forums and how often they post. Different people use the internet differently. My brother browses forums all the time, but he never posts and never signs up. He's been smoking for 20 years and has one of the best palates I know. For those who want to judge the OP simply because he doesn't "contribute" to Puff...that's ridiculous. Not everyone has time or energy to post on a cigar board all the time. Us who do are lucky. Users may try to point to his negative attitude, of course he has a negative attitude. A company just took his money and screwed his order up, and according to him they are refusing to resolve the matter.

2. There is nothing - nothing - wrong with a person coming to these boards and posting a complaint. A complaint about a cigar or company* is the same* as posting a compliment. Why? Because it's an opinion. Guess what? This forum is *all* opinion. Unless this site has specific rules that users cannot post negative threads about cigar companies, anyone has a right to post their opinions.

3. While I fully understand (I don't agree) why some users are getting negative and angry at the OP because he's posting a negative thread about Cigar Bid, you all need to get a grip. Companies screw up, even the ones you like. No company is perfect and Cigar Bid will screw up like any other company will. Just because you order from them all the time and your orders have been received well does not mean they don't screw up other people's orders. This is not the first time we've seen issues with Cigar Bid and it will not be the last. It also won't be the last a cigar smoker has issue with a cigar retailer. It's call business and things are not always smiles and hearts. Lets not start treating cigar companies like "gods", they are not. They are in the money making business.

4. Some people on these boards need to stop being so sensitive.

My final thought on this issue is, from a legal standpoint, Cigar Bid is wrong. It does not matter if the OP's credit card address was wrong initially, once it was corrected it is Cigar Bid's responsibility to ship to the correct address. You cannot blame OP for having the wrong address, that is not an excuse for a company to send an order to the wrong address. It's apparent Cigar Bid printed out the shipping label prior to the OP changing the address. They never printed off a new shipping slip. If you buy something from Amazon.com and they send it to the wrong address who's fault is it? It's Amazon. It doesn't matter, from a legal standpoint, if you had the wrong address initially on my credit card (when it was declined). If an order is declined whatever information (Name, Address, CC) should have *never* been stored.

The OP isn't without fault, but he's without _legal_ fault. I'm sure if OP spoke with customer service in a nicer tone (I'm just guessing it wasn't a nice tone) things may have gone smoother and the matter would have been resolved. Who knows.


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## Madlying (May 10, 2011)

Firerunner makes a very good point. Today I got a shipment from Cbid, which looked like it was packed by the Three Stooges, but the cigars were fine. Sometimes we need to vent to release our frustration it's as simple as that. The same way we like to let others know of a good deal, or a great score we made on some cigars.



> Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar - Pink Floyd


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## JustinThyme (Jun 17, 2013)

Emperor Zurg said:


> Dude joins the site and within 2 posts he's railing against a vendor that all of us know and most of us love...
> I don't know... I don't like this...
> Just sayin'


He actually joined before you, just doesn't post much.

Once you have joined the ranks of having your account terminated by Cbid just because you wanted to make it right and either they could not or would not your opinion may change. I was fine with them on the first shipping blunder, the CS rep took care of it in an expeditious manner and left me as a happy customer and I chalked it up to Stuff happens. Then the very next shipment I get the same thing and I'm tagged by them for contacting CS on two consecutive orders, at their admission. Its not my fault that packing was screwed for me twice in a row. The second CS rep was anything but friendly and courteous. I was sincerely trying to work it out and thought it would be. Admittedly my tone changed from pleasant to not so pleasant when I got a condescending tone from that particular CS rep but I even kept on bidding and winning but my winnings that were before they terminated my account never shipped. I got an order confirmation email but that's as far as it went. I would not be surprised in the least if we both had the misfortune of dealing with the same CS rep. The $$ amount does not matter either. The first order that was blundered was over $1100 and the second blunder was $385 and the one that didn't ship was around $225, my lowest total from them for several orders. The second blunder was all over two $16 cigars that they did not have to replace at the time of the complaint. They did get some in while the ticket was still open and unresolved and when I reached out an olive branch to get the sticks replaced my arm got chopped off and my account terminated.

I would only hope that this does not reflect on Cbid as a whole but just my crappy luck with one particular CS rep that should consider a career change.


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Emperor Zurg said:


> Dude joins the site and within 2 posts he's railing against a vendor that all of us know and most of us love...
> I don't know... I don't like this...
> Just sayin'


You're not alone. I cringe every time I see any post/thread bashing a vendor. I've said a hundred times that no bashing should ever occur, but rather stick to the facts. Make certain that EVERY POSSIBLE resource for satisfactory dispensation has been exhausted. Sadly, this is almost never the case. In 99% of cases, there's more that could be done, or someone else to contact.

What people don't understand about these posts is that they reflect poorly upon our community. They always tout the guise of "helping others not make the same mistake I made", then quickly descend into maniacal rants about a uniquely personal experience and slinging around opinion mislabeled as fact. Often times the actual circumstances are "tweaked" slightly to make the self-styled victim appear less culpable.

Another problem with these things is that they invariably become polarizing. Half the people come in and side with the poster, while the other half believe the vendor is in the right. They quickly become impassioned and hyper-sensitive and that's when things get personal and the attacks start. Next thing you know, you get someone who's hyperactive control issues get the better of them and feels the need to come in and tell everyone what their "rights" are and are not.

The point is, these things NEVER go well. Puff is not everyone's personal outlet for disseminating displeasure and I really wish people would think long and hard about whether or not they should be posting such things, what good it will, or will not do, whether it's about the community, or really just about themselves and pay special attention to exactly how they word it.

They won't though.


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## brimy623 (May 25, 2013)

FireRunner said:


> Okay. More than a few posts here need a response. But, it's way too many to quote so I'll leave my statements in the points below.
> 
> 1. A user here does not have a right to judge another user based on when they joined the forums and how often they post. Different people use the internet differently. My brother browses forums all the time, but he never posts and never signs up. He's been smoking for 20 years and has one of the best palates I know. For those who want to judge the OP simply because he doesn't "contribute" to Puff...that's ridiculous. Not everyone has time or energy to post on a cigar board all the time. Us who do are lucky. Users may try to point to his negative attitude, of course he has a negative attitude. A company just took his money and screwed his order up, and according to him they are refusing to resolve the matter.
> 
> ...


+1
The whole point of these forums is to share info/opinions and everyone is not going to agree with yours!



JustinThyme said:


> He actually joined before you, just doesn't post much.
> 
> Once you have joined the ranks of having your account terminated by Cbid just because you wanted to make it right and either they could not or would not your opinion may change. I was fine with them on the first shipping blunder, the CS rep took care of it in an expeditious manner and left me as a happy customer and I chalked it up to Stuff happens. Then the very next shipment I get the same thing and I'm tagged by them for contacting CS on two consecutive orders, at their admission. Its not my fault that packing was screwed for me twice in a row. The second CS rep was anything but friendly and courteous. I was sincerely trying to work it out and thought it would be. Admittedly my tone changed from pleasant to not so pleasant when I got a condescending tone from that particular CS rep but I even kept on bidding and winning but my winnings that were before they terminated my account never shipped. I got an order confirmation email but that's as far as it went. I would not be surprised in the least if we both had the misfortune of dealing with the same CS rep. The $$ amount does not matter either. The first order that was blundered was over $1100 and the second blunder was $385 and the one that didn't ship was around $225, my lowest total from them for several orders. The second blunder was all over two $16 cigars that they did not have to replace at the time of the complaint. They did get some in while the ticket was still open and unresolved and when I reached out an olive branch to get the sticks replaced my arm got chopped off and my account terminated.
> 
> I would only hope that this does not reflect on Cbid as a whole but just my crappy luck with one particular CS rep that should consider a career change.


It seems that the most disturbing part is CBID's decisions to cancel people's accounts! How do you do business like that?!:noidea:
That indeed gives me the impression that they feel they have enough business and doesn't care about the individual with the problem. No matter who caused it, it's even worse if you (the company) are at fault. and as was pointed out several times in this thread, the order was NOT shipped until the CC and address info was corrected.
Negative posts may seem like "bitching" but it's good to hear the bad with the good!

Thanks for the negative posts!! It shows how vendors deal with the problems. Luckily I've had good experiences thus far, but as also stated, a lot of problems have been arising with this particular vendor. Interesting to see how it pans out.


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## CheapHumidors (Aug 30, 2007)

I can see both points of view; Puff is a wonderful community and it would be terrible if it got a reputation as just a place where people go to bash vendors. That being said, as a vendor, I appreciate both the negative and the positive feedback. Although negative posts like this immediately make me cringe they also help me keep tabs on how we are doing. 

In fact, just last week a new Puffer tagged onto an old thread that was all about how great our customer service is. His post was extremely negative. My initial reaction was to take it very personally and get upset with the poster (he posted this on the day he joined, didn't post an intro or anything, just posted a negative comment about us). However, after some research and personal emails between the two of us, I found out that he was absolutely correct. He had received abysmal customer service from one of our CS reps. This lead me to dig into that rep's past communications with other customers and found that he clearly was not cut out for customer service. If it weren't for that negative comment it would probably have taken me months to figure out we had an in-house problem. 

That being said, I can definitely agree that we should carefully weigh the pros and cons of posting and choose our words carefully.


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## brimy623 (May 25, 2013)

@Herf N Turf
Just curious about this part of your statement.



Herf N Turf said:


> Make certain that EVERY POSSIBLE resource for satisfactory dispensation has been exhausted. Sadly, this is almost never the case. In 99% of cases, there's more that could be done, or someone else to contact.


If you (whomever it is) are told that your account is being cancelled/closed because the vendors resolution was not satisfactory to you, it would seem to me that the vendor is "putting a period" at the end of the situation.


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## brimy623 (May 25, 2013)

CheapHumidors said:


> That being said, I can definitely agree that we should carefully weigh the pros and cons of posting and choose our words carefully.


+1 I can definitely agree with this.


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## brimy623 (May 25, 2013)

CheapHumidors said:


> However, after some research and personal emails between the two of us, I found out that he was absolutely correct. He had received abysmal customer service from one of our CS reps. This lead me to dig into that rep's past communications with other customers and found that he clearly was not cut out for customer service. If it weren't for that negative comment it would probably have taken me months to figure out we had an in-house problem.


With this statement, especially coming from another vendor, maybe the CBID management will take note and really scrutinize a situation before someone's account is cancelled.


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## Emperor Zurg (May 6, 2013)

Herf N Turf said:


> You're not alone. I cringe every time I see any post/thread bashing a vendor.


I do too. And I'm not saying the guy doesn't have a case. For that matter I'm not saying he does.

The thing is, this is not a small potatoes forum. I found the place (and joined) because every time I Googled a cigar related question 'Puff dot com' was right there at the top of the page. I'd wager this place has a HUGE influence among cigar smokers whether they are members or just lurkers, and as such could go a long way toward damaging someone's cigar business. That sword bears with it is a bit of a responsibility IMO and should not be taken lightly.

Obviously, if a vendor really is abusing customers, they will get what they deserve, and I hope they do. But I would hope every effort would have been made to rectify the situation and that those efforts involved civil discourse between the two parties and not just snotty accusations and curt bitching the fallout of which are simply polluting the atmosphere here. We know none of this - because we only have 1 side of the story - and that is usually the nature of these rants.


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## ROCarson (Apr 13, 2013)

CheapHumidors said:


> I can see both points of view; Puff is a wonderful community and it would be terrible if it got a reputation as just a place where people go to bash vendors. That being said, as a vendor, I appreciate both the negative and the positive feedback. Although negative posts like this immediately make me cringe they also help me keep tabs on how we are doing.


I agree, it would be a shame if Puff were to devolve into a vendor bashing forum. You're completely right though, vendors need bad feedback as well as the good. Yes, the person in question could go to the BBB, but in my experience having it come out in a public forum like this provides the vendor an opportunity to turn the situation around and into a customer loyalty home run. Generally speaking, some of the most loyal customers a company will ever create are those that have had a bad experience that was properly dealt with by the vendor.


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

brimy623 said:


> @Herf N Turf
> Just curious about this part of your statement.
> 
> If you (whomever it is) are told that your account is being cancelled/closed because the vendors resolution was not satisfactory to you, it would *seem to me* that the vendor is "putting a period" at the end of the situation.


Key point of your query bold. I am not speaking specifically to this situation, of which I know very little, based on the information given and even the little I do know, comes from only one side of the situation. Running the risk of repeating myself, and having run retail businesses and dealt with every conceivable type of customer and complaint, in nearly EVERY CASE, there is at least one step left to potentially resolve the situation.

Also, based on experience, there is always a very clear, distinct line, or button a customer hits in order to cause me to no longer do business with them. In this case, as in most others, he had to have hit that button. Even though I valued my customer above all else and enjoyed a stellar reputation for customer service, there was only so much I would take.


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## Gdaddy (Sep 20, 2012)

Herf N Turf said:


> Key point of your query bold. I am not speaking specifically to this situation, of which I know very little, based on the information given and even the little I do know, comes from only one side of the situation. Running the risk of repeating myself, and having run retail businesses and dealt with every conceivable type of customer and complaint, in nearly EVERY CASE, there is at least one step left to potentially resolve the situation.
> 
> Also, based on experience, there is *always a very clear, distinct line, or button a customer hits in order to cause me to no longer do business with them.* In this case, as in most others, he had to have hit that button. Even though I valued my customer above all else and enjoyed a stellar reputation for customer service, there was only so much I would take.


When you charge-back your credit card that usually throws up the red flags. In this situation I would imagine he put a charge-back on the entire order not just the shipping charges that were the basis for dispute.

Brings up another question...where are the cigars currently located?


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## felker14 (Jun 20, 2013)

FireRunner said:


> Okay. More than a few posts here need a response. But, it's way too many to quote so I'll leave my statements in the points below.
> 
> 1. A user here does not have a right to judge another user based on when they joined the forums and how often they post. Different people use the internet differently. My brother browses forums all the time, but he never posts and never signs up. He's been smoking for 20 years and has one of the best palates I know. For those who want to judge the OP simply because he doesn't "contribute" to Puff...that's ridiculous. Not everyone has time or energy to post on a cigar board all the time. Us who do are lucky. Users may try to point to his negative attitude, of course he has a negative attitude. A company just took his money and screwed his order up, and according to him they are refusing to resolve the matter.
> 
> ...


Well said. Simple fact is no company or person is perfect.


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## earcutter (Aug 25, 2013)

It's funny - I think some of you are wrong with respect to "vendor" bashing. Many have stated that this is becoming a trend. Well if that's the case - then maybe there is room for concern. Maybe not. Your a big kid - think for yourself but don't mute people. 

I personally don't find "vendor bashing" a bad thing at all unless its promoted by the staff or mods at Puff. If we didn't have a place to bash, then we would all blindly walk into a world created against us. I mean seriously - there is a reason why freedom of speech is so dearly loved by the little man. Its loved because its about the only tool we have to weed out tyrants who's bank accounts are large enough to brainwash us. 

Finally... If you think vendor bashing is bad, well, so be it. But it doesn't destroy the industry on a whole as others have claimed - at all. Other forums I have visited where guys run down other guys cigars, humi's, and the price they paid for things does. The reason I post on Puff is because as a whole the community doesn't do that here.


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## brimy623 (May 25, 2013)

Herf N Turf said:


> *in nearly EVERY CASE, there is at least one step left to potentially resolve the situation.*
> 
> Also, based on experience,* there is always a very clear, distinct line, or button a customer hits in order to cause me to no longer do business with them*. *In this case, as in most others, he had to have hit that button*. Even though I valued my customer above all else and enjoyed a stellar reputation for customer service, there was only so much I would take.


It would be interesting to know who makes the call to close an account! Because for me that's what would cause concern in any of these situation.

As CheapHumidors pointed out in her experience, it could have been the CSR! After having been in the service industry as a manager for 20+ years and NOT being a believer in the adage that "the customer is always right" it would definitely be interesting to hearing CBIDS version of the situation! As my G'ma used to say (and as others here have implied), "there's three sides to every story, your side, their side and the truth lies somewhere in the middle"!



Gdaddy said:


> When you charge-back your credit card that usually throws up the red flags.


If I recall correct, the OP said he never received it as it was shipped to his old address. And unless it was shipped USPS a forwarding address would not have helped. Would you want to pay for something you never received?


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## brimy623 (May 25, 2013)

earcutter said:


> It's funny - I think some of you are wrong with respect to "vendor" bashing. Many have stated that this is becoming a trend. Well if that's the case - then maybe there is room for concern. Maybe not. Your a big kid - think for yourself but don't mute people.
> 
> I personally don't find "vendor bashing" a bad thing at all unless its promoted by the staff or mods at Puff. If we didn't have a place to bash, then we would all blindly walk into a world created against us. I mean seriously - there is a reason why freedom of speech is so dearly loved by the little man. Its loved because its about the only tool we have to weed out tyrants who's bank accounts are large enough to brainwash us.
> 
> Finally... If you think vendor bashing is bad, well, so be it. But it doesn't destroy the industry on a whole as others have claimed - at all. Other forums I have visited where guys run down other guys cigars, humi's, and the price they paid for things does. The reason I post on Puff is because as a whole the community doesn't do that here.


+! ^^^


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## 2152ATC (Mar 24, 2013)

Herf N Turf said:


> Key point of your query bold. I am not speaking specifically to this situation, of which I know very little, based on the information given and even the little I do know, comes from only one side of the situation. Running the risk of repeating myself, and having run retail businesses and dealt with every conceivable type of customer and complaint, in nearly EVERY CASE, there is at least one step left to potentially resolve the situation.
> 
> Also, based on experience, there is always a very clear, distinct line, or button a customer hits in order to cause me to no longer do business with them. In this case, as in most others, he had to have hit that button. Even though I valued my customer above all else and enjoyed a stellar reputation for customer service, there was only so much I would take.


I was respectful on the phone, as were they. I was given the option to either pay to have the item shipped back to CB and then reshipped to me....or nothing at all. Based on the tracking info the cigars which I won are at the old residence. Not really much of an option, as again I don't believe it was my fault they shipped it to the wrong address, and as a matter of principle I'm not going to pay for someones screwup. I told CB that they were going to leave me no choice but to file a chargeback, at which point they responded with closing my account. I'm unable to log on to the website, but luckily I had DL'd a screenshot of the invoice. Interesting when a company shuts you out of the only proof you had. Doubtful they did that solely to keep that invoice from being seen though.

I've had a few other run ins with companies and bad service. IMHO, the BBB doesn't really fix the problem. A forum is the quickest way to reach people, and sometimes results in the problem getting fixed.

I just received another email from CB indicating an order that I bid on and won is shipping to me today. So at least I'll have some Nub 464's for the time being.

If CB wants to make this right they could simply issue a call tag for the cigars and refund my CC. I'll continue buying things from them from time to time as well. If not, it's not the end of the world. But the fact that this post has reached so many people in such short time, along with a few that replied with similar negative experiences may just be enough to get the attention of someone in that company that cares about it's customers. Then again, I'm little fish (tadpole maybe?) so loosing a few hundred bucks from me really will have zero impact on their operation. Why would they bother to do anything at all? Only reason I can see it's because it's the right thing to do.

CB.,....ball is in your court.


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## Tobias Lutz (Feb 18, 2013)

earcutter said:


> I personally don't find "vendor bashing" a bad thing at all unless its promoted by the staff or mods at Puff. If we didn't have a place to bash, then we would all blindly walk into a world created against us. I mean seriously - there is a reason why freedom of speech is so dearly loved by the little man. *Its loved because its about the only tool we have to weed out tyrants who's bank accounts are large enough to brainwash us. *


1. The mods are here to help work-out issues involving the forum- not to create an arbitrary tone for it. The tone, or general nature, of Puff is explicitly the result of us, the regular members. We make our own bed, and then we lie in it. The mods are here to be helpful and to enforce extreme parameters so that no one goes to insanely far out in left field, we are given plenty of rope to hang ourselves with. When a number of regular Puffers take it upon themselves to start "bashing", it affects the image of the community no different than if the mods set up an official "bashing" forum and hollered "come on in".

2. The bold sentence is the perfect example of the kind of hyperbolic propaganda sound bite that these threads seem to inevitably dissolve into, which is why they seem such a slippery slope.


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## earcutter (Aug 25, 2013)

Tobias Lutz said:


> 1. The mods are here to help work-out issues involving the forum- not to create an arbitrary tone for it. The tone, or general nature, of Puff is explicitly the result of us, the regular members. We make our own bed, and then we lie in it. The mods are here to be helpful and to enforce extreme parameters so that no one goes to insanely far out in left field, we are given plenty of rope to hang ourselves with. When a number of regular Puffers take it upon themselves to start "bashing", it affects the image of the community no different than if the mods set up an official "bashing" forum and hollered "come on in".
> 
> 2. The bold sentence is the perfect example of the kind of hyperbolic propaganda sound bite that these threads seem to inevitably dissolve into, which is why they seem such a slippery slope.


I agree wholeheartedly with point #1 . And that's why I said they are the only ones here "I think" who shouldn't pursue vendor criticisms. Or bashing as some see fit to call it. In essence, your point encourages people to criticize in a factual manor, and that I agree with as well. So all's good on the point # 1 front lol. We agree. Cool.

As for your point #2 - well calling what is a positive statement, one that can be proven empirically - a "hyperbolic propaganda sound bite" lol, makes your statement a normative statement and therefore takes away from your first point. Which is too bad. It's not over the top brother - many at the top have no idea whats going on below them. Some don't care - and that's cool too. But revolutions have been started via forums like this. That's a fact, not hyperbolic propaganda lol!

All said and done - the vast majority of us don't know each other and never will. However, it is a community all the same - one many cling dearly too. When a man discloses displeasure, its a sad testament that we automatically assume he's a troublemaker. As it's a sad testament that sometimes we judge those who are happy as fools lol!!

It's a conversation... it's about how we feel. That's about it really.


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## Gdaddy (Sep 20, 2012)

brimy623 said:


> If I recall correct, the OP said he never received it as it was shipped to his old address. And unless it was shipped USPS a forwarding address would not have helped. Would you want to pay for something you never received?


Yes, it was shipped to the old address. So, the first mistake made was having the wrong address on the form. This was NOT the fault of C-bid. Had there been a correct address this error would not have happened. I think we could all agree on that. There apparently was an effort to correct the address but there are NO details as to the time frame in which this occurred. The package may have shipped immediately upon receiving proper credit card information. I think there are two sides to this story.

I would not want to pay for something I didn't receive. However, I would only do a charge-back as a last resort. In good faith they shipped the cigars to the address shown. To then immediately file a claim against them is not fair. At least give them the chance to refund the CC before going to Amex. Look at it from their stand point. They don't have the cigars either...they also paid for shipping them out as you asked and they will pay for pick-up and maybe get them back. All this mess because of one thing... *"I forgot to change my address."* (Which the OP admits to.) I don't doubt that there was an attempt at correcting the address but it was too late.

To lay all the blame on C-bid and accept none of the responsibility for the initial mistake is not fair IMO.


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## Tobias Lutz (Feb 18, 2013)

earcutter said:


> As for your point #2 - well calling what is a positive statement, one that can be proven empirically - a "hyperbolic propaganda sound bite" lol, makes your statement a normative statement and therefore takes away from your first point. Which is too bad. It's not over the top brother - many at the top have no idea whats going on below them. Some don't care - and that's cool too. * But revolutions have been started via forums like this.* That's a fact, not hyperbolic propaganda lol!
> 
> *It's a conversation... it's about how we feel. That's about it really. *


If talking about the potential of a forum to start a revolution in a thread about someone's 5 pack of Ghurkas going missing isn't exaggerated propaganda, I'm completely lost. You implied that people at C-bid are interested in "brainwashing" us, and then make an invalid correlation between my value judgment on such a statement and my encouraging the idea that a better venue exists for voicing the complaint regarding those cigars? You win, I have the ill-fortune of possessing reason in this one and I'm obviously not going to come out on top.

And you hit the nail on the head- too much about feelings, and not enough about facts (where we only have the perspective of one party)


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## HIM (Sep 12, 2012)

I think everybody just needs to stop arguing and let the OP and Trish handle the situation. This thread has spiraled out of control and is going absolutely nowhere. All everyone is doing is pissing off the mods.


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## ROCarson (Apr 13, 2013)

2152ATC said:


> I just received another email from CB indicating an order that I bid on and won is shipping to me today. So at least I'll have some Nub 464's for the time being.


I'll be surprised if they actually ship to you. I believe @JustinThyme won some bids post ban and indicated that even though he received an email of shipment the actual orders were canceled.


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## brimy623 (May 25, 2013)

Gdaddy said:


> Yes, it was shipped to the old address. So, the first mistake made was having the wrong address on the form. This was NOT the fault of C-bid. Had there been a correct address this error would not have happened. I think we could all agree on that. There apparently was an effort to correct the address but there are NO details as to the time frame in which this occurred. *The package may have shipped immediately upon receiving proper credit card information.* *I think there are two sides to this story.*
> 
> I would not want to pay for something I didn't receive. However, I would only do a charge-back as a last resort. In good faith they shipped the cigars to the address shown. To then immediately file a claim against them is not fair. At least give them the chance to refund the CC before going to Amex. Look at it from their stand point. They don't have the cigars either...they also paid for shipping them out as you asked and they will pay for pick-up and maybe get them back. All this mess because of one thing... *"I forgot to change my address."* (Which the OP admits to.) I don't doubt that there was an attempt at correcting the address but it was too late.
> 
> To lay all the blame on C-bid and accept none of the responsibility for the initial mistake is not fair IMO.


Possible, but *HIGHLY unlikely!* 99.9% of the vendors are making sure they get their $ first.
Definitely!! Which is why it would be interesting for CBID to share their side of things

And like I said in another post of this thread, I think the negative feedback is important! But as Don said, to paraphrase, choose you wording and give a full and concise depiction of the situation. It always helps if the vendor can chime in. Maybe there are other avenues, but this is informative and enlightening.


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## earcutter (Aug 25, 2013)

Tobias Lutz said:


> If talking about the potential of a forum to start a revolution in a thread about someone's 5 pack of Ghurkas going missing isn't exaggerated propaganda, I'm completely lost. You implied that people at C-bid are interested in "brainwashing" us, and then make an invalid correlation between my value judgment on such a statement and my encouraging the idea that a better venue exists for voicing the complaint regarding those cigars? You win, I have the ill-fortune of possessing reason in this one and I'm obviously not going to come out on top.
> 
> And you hit the nail on the head- too much about feelings, and not enough about facts *(where we only have the perspective of one party)*


WOW man! I think your taking what I am saying a little too personally! LOL - Wow.

Seriously - when it comes to revolutions - I was thinking the Arab Spring.

When talking about brainwashing I was thinking big business yes, but also governments.

Could this all be taken into the micro and applied to C-bid? Sure. But was I implying that C-bid is brainwashing us and that we need to have a revolution against them... lol NO!! Thanks for pointing out that my writing style can lead to conclusions that are a little radicalized though - seriously.

Dude - I love C-bid. They provide a service - one I buy into. Hence, my moneys are filtered to them. But seriously, they are a business all the same. Can one love a business but still want them to do better? Or is it an all or nothing?

As for that which I have emboldened. I agree 100%. C-bid can if they like, respond or not. I am not taking any sides here at all. I have feelings about what I would do if I were a vendor. And I have feelings about what I would do as a client. That's it. I am expressing them here. But I am not as invested as you are implying lol.

I love your posts - I hope you see that generally speaking we are on the same page - unfortunately, what I am trying to express isn't being translated correctly. I guess I have options too lol. I could stop - or I can try and express to you that how you saw things I wrote are being misunderstood. I am trying the latter.


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## Tobias Lutz (Feb 18, 2013)

earcutter said:


> WOW man! I think your taking what I am saying a little too personally! LOL - Wow.
> 
> Seriously - when it comes to revolutions - I was thinking the Arab Spring.
> 
> ...


I'm not taking what you're saying personally, I was simply trying to read it very literally. If you were trying to refer to broader topics with some of your statements, than I apologize for misjudging your perspective. I think perhaps you were writing knowing in your own mind how to fill in the blanks :wink: Those of us out here in the cyber world can't always tell what you're implying and so we'll make the connection that seems most obvious, typically by using the context of the conversation. If this was a thread on CNN about the Syrian regime I would have read your statements very differently. No worries.
:tea:


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## [email protected] (Oct 3, 2012)

Good Afternoon All!

Having read through the thread, there seems to be a lot of assumptions and misconceptions being made by lots of folks. I appreciate those of you who didn’t jump to any conclusions. I agree that vendors need both the positive and negative feedback. Everyone loves positive feedback, of course. But negative feedback helps to find flaws in methods and processes.

There were so many things in this thread that I want to address, I’m not going to quote them but I do want to address them. What I’ve been able to find out about this situation is that while we were informed there was a credit card change, we were not told about an updated address. Here’s why that’s important. When your winnings are downloaded, whatever credit card number and address info is downloaded into our order processing database. No packing label is made until the order is ready to ship – which happens AFTER a successful payment is made. But without updating the address – which we were not told had changed – we wouldn’t know to make that change.

The OP says that his account shows the new address. Yes it does because he updated it! But his emailed invoice shows the old address so we could argue on that all day. 

The part that I focused on is the information received when you update your address on the site. “Your active payment method will be used for all future orders. Current winning bids or buys which have not been made into an order will use the payment which is active when they are processed prior to shipping.” What the heck does that mean???? I work here and it took me a moment to understand it so I can understand why he wouldn’t know what we were explaining there.

When he spoke with a representative, he was asked to pay for the return label - $7.50. That doesn’t include the return shipping or the re-shipping to him. We would have paid that. We were asking him to split the cost of the error. The rep was told that he knew the people living at his old address so we’d send the label there, have the order returned to us and then we’d ship replacements to him. I thought that was fair – both parties sharing in the blame.

Lastly, his account was closed because he initiated a chargeback. This is standard procedure and hasn’t changed as long as I’ve been here – which is about 6 months less than CBid has been in existence. 

Phew, I’m going to need a nap and a cigar after this one (but which will come first????)..........


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## Gdaddy (Sep 20, 2012)

> "The OP says that his account shows the new address. Yes it does because he updated it! But his emailed invoice shows the old address"


Well, how about that!! I knew there was another side to the story.

Thanks Trish.


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## StogieJim (Sep 18, 2010)

Always two sides to every story


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## [email protected] (Oct 3, 2012)

Gdaddy / StogieJim - 

Thank you for all the positive energy but I really don't believe we were blameless in this. I think that needs to be stressed. That's why the rep and supervisor he spoke with requested only that he pay the cost of the label. Maybe that wasn't made clear to him. But now that a chargeback was started, we can't do anything more.


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## JustinThyme (Jun 17, 2013)

Trish, thanks for being upfront and honest.


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## madbricky (Mar 29, 2013)

@Herf N Turf Geez Don, you are a good writer. I cant hardly believe that people don't understand what you are saying. Besides being a community there is the sense of loyalty that comes with unselfish association with each other. When that is interrupted by self-seeking individuals is only human nature that the more outgoing members of that group of people will rise to the occasion and object in a manner of different sorts. It seems the most valid objection to this thread is the interruption to the normal gregarious and sharing function of the general cigar discussion forum. Maybe after this cools off I could suggest another forum for activity related to vendor issues good or bad so that the good and gentle folk can enjoy discourse of a relatively stogie subject matter. As I said earlier I don't believe bitter herbs or the selfish pursuit of ones own agenda belongs here and will add as you said will change the very nature of a unique and civilized tobacco forum. Thanks, and it's my absolute desire that all should benefit from what's given here and no one individual has the right to take center stage out of selfish motives.


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## purepoker (Sep 15, 2011)

madbricky said:


> @Herf N Turf Geez Don, you are a good writer. I cant hardly believe that people don't understand what you are saying. Besides being a community there is the sense of loyalty that comes with unselfish association with each other. When that is interrupted by self-seeking individuals is only human nature that the more outgoing members of that group of people will rise to the occasion and object in a manner of different sorts. It seems the most valid objection to this thread is the interruption to the normal gregarious and sharing function of the general cigar discussion forum. Maybe after this cools off I could suggest another forum for activity related to vendor issues good or bad so that the good and gentle folk can enjoy discourse of a relatively stogie subject matter. As I said earlier I don't believe bitter herbs or the selfish pursuit of ones own agenda belongs here and will add as you said will change the very nature of a unique and civilized tobacco forum. Thanks, and it's my absolute desire that all should benefit from what's given here and no one individual has the right to take center stage out of selfish motives.


REALLY! LOL... Are you for real? Sorry, just have to laugh about some of the posts in this thread. Not picking on you, this is just my opinion, their seems to be many sensitive cigar smokers these days.


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## syphon101 (Sep 12, 2013)

Tobias Lutz said:


> I just think the tone and context of how negative comments are presented can really make a difference in perception. Both amongst members, and to those who lurk.


As a new member I would agree. I spent over a week researching and debating about buying from CI for the first time due to some threads like this. Most people are very wary about making purchases online. During my research I found more good comments than bad but still those few stuck in me head.

It wasn't until I asked a few members here for reinsurance that I actually made my first purchase. Now wishing I would have sooner. I had 18 Cigars come in along with a travel size humidor and everything was in great condition. Cigars were a bit more humidified to withstand the shipping process, so I have to wait a little longer to really enjoy them but overall very happy.


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## madbricky (Mar 29, 2013)

purepoker said:


> REALLY! LOL... Are you for real? Sorry, just have to laugh about some of the posts in this thread. Not picking on you, this is just my opinion, their seems to be many sensitive cigar smokers these days.


Really....not sensitive just considerate, as in considering how my words, deeds, actions...whatever may affect others. Im going through a rough patch now and what makes me feel better is what I can do to serve others. Hope that clears it up that I am a gentleman first in all my endeavors as well as I can. Not always the best thats for sure. Later bro :biggrin:


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## goatking (Sep 5, 2013)

Big fan of Famous Smoke they haven't let me down yet


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Okay, another one of these disasters put to rest. I'm happy that, whether satisfactory, or not, this is resolved and we can all put it behind us and move on. 

One of the many pitfalls of these threads is, as I said before, they tend to spawn a lot of passion, divisiveness and, until one side "wins", or at least perceives they've won, can't let it go. THAT, my friends, is exactly what I am determined to avoid here and avoid at all cost. Let it die. Let it go. I do not expect to see another 'addendum' thread' posted about this and, if I do, it won't see a second dawn.

Going forward, should anyone else feel overwhelmingly compelled to share an unsatisfactory encounter of the vendor kind, stick to the facts, keep your wording inert and make damn sure you've explored every possible option for resolution, FIRST!

Thank you. Carry on.


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